Hot tips for cold calling

Since selling became a recognised profession, countless sales training organizations, sales gurus, writers and sales people of all sorts, have attempted to create effective cold calling techniques.

There is no magical script, and while there are many helpful frameworks and methodologies, there is no single answer.

Cold calling is possibly one of the most intimidating duties of a sales professional.

Trying to strike up a conversation with a stranger is tough at the best of times let alone when your purpose is to ultimately sell something.

More sales professionals are moving away from the traditional practice of 'closing the sale' to a more passive technique of building relationships.

This means that sales people are assuming a greater advisory role and are finding ways to facilitate and enable rather than sell.

Professionals are being trained to inform and educate customers, listen to and interpret requests, use key phrases to explain their position and keep in touch with clients.

You will notice an over-riding theme of not actually selling during the cold calling process. Arguably of course all of this theory is selling of a sort, but it is not selling in the traditional sense of pushing, telling, advancing the features or benefits of your own products or services.

Generally the aim of cold calling is simply to open dialogue, to get to first base, and possibly ,if it suits the prospect, to make an appointment for further discussion and exploration.

It is extremely easy for possible clients to give you the dial tone when they are not interested, so getting yourself in front of the client is key.

However, if you only have the opportunity to talk to a client telephonically, your speaking skills are going to be the only tool at your disposal, so make sure you train yourself in excellent verbal communication.

Your tone will account for two-thirds of the impression you’re sending to the customer. Tone is everything.

Research shows that human communication is 55% visual, 38% tone and only 7% words. In other words, it is not what you say, it’s the way that you say it.

Given that we lose the visual aspects on the phone, your tone now accounts for 84% of your impact. Are you dull or are you engaging and passionate?

Do you use strong words that convey persuasion or do you use “wishy washy” language that take the prospect nowhere? Use invigorating and powerful words like huge, massive, significant, dramatic, ground-breaking to emphasize your credentials. You have very little time and the bulk of what you say is lost. Make your words count.

Successful cold calling, including the effectiveness of methods and techniques, essentially relies on your own attitude.